散文：First Snow初雪

初雪來臨的時候，有人在漫天飛舞的雪花中歡呼雀躍，恨不能隨之飛舞;也有孩童迫不及待地沖出家門，想用初雪堆砌冬天第一個雪人;也有人望著落于手心，慢慢融化的雪花，神情恬淡而飄緲;親愛的，你是怎樣迎接每一場初雪的?

This morning, when I first caught sight of the unfamiliar whitened world, I could not help wishing that we had snow oftener, that English winters were more wintry.

今天早上，當(dāng)我第一次看見這個陌生的銀白色的世界時，我不禁衷心希望這里能夠多下幾場雪，這樣我們英國的冬天才能更增添幾分冬天的味道。

How delightful it would be, I thought, to have months of clean snow and a landscape sparkling with frost instead of innumerable grey featureless days of rain and raw winds.

我想，如果我們這里經(jīng)常是個冰雪積月、霜華璀璨的景象，而不是像現(xiàn)在這種苦雨凄風(fēng)永無盡期的陰沉而乏特色的日子，那該多么令人喜悅啊!

I began to envy my friends in such places as the Eastern States of America and Canada, who can count upon a solid winter every year and know that the snow will arrive by a certain date and will remain, without degenerating into black slush, until Spring is close at hand. To have snow and frost and yet a clear sunny sky and air as crisp as a biscuit - this seemed to me happiness indeed.

于是我羨慕起那些居住在美國東部各州和加拿大的我的友人們，他們那里年年都能出現(xiàn)一個像樣的冬天，都能說得出降雪的確切日期，并能保證，直至大地春回之前，那里的雪絕無退化為黑色泥漿的可能。既有霜雪，又有晴朗溫煦的天空，而且空氣又非常涼爽清新——這在我看來實(shí)在是很大的快樂。

And then I saw that it would never do for us. We should be sick of it in a week. After the first day the magic would be gone and there would be nothing left but the unchanging glare of the day and the bitter cruel nights.

但馬上我又覺得這樣還是不行。不出一周人們就會對它感到厭煩。第一天后魔力便會消失，剩下的唯有白晝那種永無變化的耀眼陽光與刺骨嚴(yán)寒和凄冷的夜晚。

It is not the snow itself,the sight of the blanketed world, that is so enchanting, but the first coming of the snow, the sudden and silent change.Out of the relations, for ever shifting and unanticipated,of wind and water comes a magical event.

讓人如此著迷的不是雪的本身，不在這個銀裝素裹的景象，而是初雪降臨時，那突然而寧靜的變化。正是從風(fēng)風(fēng)雨雨這類變幻無常和難以預(yù)期的關(guān)系之中才會出現(xiàn)這種以降雪為奇跡的情形。

Who would change this state of things for a steadily recurring round,an earth governed by the calendar? It has been well said that while other countries have a climate, we alone in England have weather. There is nothing duller than climate,which can be converted into a topic only by scientists and hypochondriacs.

誰又肯拿眼前這般景致去換上個永遠(yuǎn)周而復(fù)始的單調(diào)局面，一個全由年歷來控制的大地?有一句話說的好，別的國家都有氣候，唯有英國才有天氣。氣候是最為枯燥和乏味的，或許只有科學(xué)家與疑難雜癥患者才會把它當(dāng)做話題。

But weather is our earth's Cleopatra, and it is not to be wondered at that we, who must share her gigantic moods, should be for ever talking about her. Once we were settled in America, Siberia, Australia, where there is nothing but a steady pact between climate and the calendar,we should regret her very naughtinesses, her willful pranks,her gusts of rage, and sudden tears.

但是天氣卻是我們這塊土地上的克里奧佩特拉，因而毫不奇怪，人們?yōu)樗薮笄榫w變化所左右，總不免要對她竊竊私議。假如一旦我們定居于美洲、西伯利亞與澳大利亞，在那里氣候與年歷之間早已有成約在先，我們即使僅僅因?yàn)槭ニ恼{(diào)皮，她任性的惡作劇，她的狂忿盛怒與涕泣漣漣也會深感遺憾。

詞匯魅力

1.degenerate v.退化，墮落

2.slush n.軟泥

3.crisp adj.脆的

4.glare n.刺眼的強(qiáng)光

5.enchanting adj.迷人的

6.unanticipated adj.不曾預(yù)料到的

7.recurring adj.再發(fā)的，循環(huán)的

8.gigantic adj.巨大的

9.pact n.契約，協(xié)定

10.naughtiness n.頑皮

11.prank n.開玩笑，惡作劇

12.gust n.一陣強(qiáng)風(fēng)